Field survival poor for stored and heeled-in ponderosa pine seedlings

Several thousand 3-0 ponderosa
pine seedlings of a Siskiyou National
Forest seed source were erroneously
lifted from nursery beds in mid-November
1968. Immediately after sorting,
bundles of seedlings were wrapped
in waterproof paper with moist peat
and packed in polyethylene-lined kraft
bags. After 5 and 16 weeks of cold
storage, some were heeled in for 14
and 3 weeks, respectively, at the
nursery. The rest were held in storage
for 19 weeks.
In the spring of 1969, field foresters,
seeking information concerning the
quality of both the heeled-in and
stored seedlings, asked reforestation
specialists (including the author) to
examine them. We recommended
that all seedlings stored longer
than 5 weeks be discarded and that
those heeled-in after 5 weeks'
storage be re-sorted before shipment.
A limited study was established to
test the validity of this recommendation
and to gain more insight
into extended storage and
heeling in of ponderosa pine seedlings.